1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information provision exchange service system and method, a program for implementing the method, and a storage medium storing the program, and more particularly, to an information provision exchange service system and method that provides, via a communications network, an information provision exchange service to all communication terminal subscribers by mediating the exchange of information between a plurality of communication terminals each one of which is allocated to a particular subscriber, and a program for implementing the method, and a storage medium storing the program.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, as services that provide information using a communication network, a wide array of information provision services exist, including interactive television services, telephone fax information provision services, and internet information provision services. The interactive television service is a service that provides information indiscriminately to a large number of unspecified individuals without specifying the recipient of information. For this reason, among the individuals to which the information is provided there exist those for whom the provided information is useful and appropriate and those for whom it is not.
With information provision services by using telephone faxes and the like, when the recipient is in a position to receive the information, information is provided to the recipient unilaterally. For example, even if this telephone fax information provision service provides only voice data, a recipient is designated by an information provider who is unknown to the recipient and information is provided from the information provider to the recipient. The designation of the recipient means designation of the telephone number of the recipient. Accordingly, it is possible for the recipient or the information provider (the sender), or both, to identify a particular individual from the telephone number. This state of affairs, although ordinarily beneficial to the information provider, when the recipient denies or refuses the information, or when the recipient is slandered, in many cases puts the recipient in an uncomfortable or disadvantageous position, particularly uncomfortable psychologically.
As an information provision service type that has partially solved these disadvantages and defects, there is an internet-based bulletin board-like information provision exchange service. According to this method, normally called a chat room, individuals who subscribe to an internet connection service provided by an internet services provider have individual fictitious names under which they provide information to an information provision area (site) called an internet bulletin board and are provided with information from such site. This type of technology is introduced, for example, in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 10-257189, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 11-184786, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2000-115153 and Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2000-57374. In Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2000-57374, a fictitious other self called avatar is allowed to participate, carrying out conversations and exchanging information.
Moreover, as places to provide information and to receive information there are also ordinary cellular telephone e-mail sites and I-mode (registered trademark) sites.
However, with the technology described in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2000-57374, even though an individual might be using a fictitious name, if information in the form of criticism or slander is directed toward the individual behind the fictitious name, that fictitiously named person might be put in an extremely disadvantageous position, and might even be forced to withdraw from the site or to change his or her fictitious name to a new fictitious name.
Moreover, with a site like that described above, if information that can identify an individual, such as the individual's name or telephone number, is mistakenly leaked by a sender, the sender runs the risk of being heavily disadvantaged. Further, in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2000-57374, although a technology is described of chat room participants getting together to form a group and to meet and for preventing information on those within the group from being leaked to others who connected to the network and are not members of the group (others who have entered the group), there is no mention of any technology for shielding or preventing leakage of information that can be used to identify individuals within that group (that is, two or more chat room participants).
Further, in a chat service, participants enter the chat room under fictitious names that do not identify individuals, and therefore an environment is created in which it is easy for participants to make slanderous statements. Accordingly, if the name of an individual who has made slanderous statements becomes known to the other participants, then that individual runs the risk of being exposed to many and great disadvantages.
Further, a major problem arises whenever someone uses an actual personage's name and that personage then virtually slanders that actual person, causing that the actual person to suffer damage or injury.
Moreover, with the widespread diffusion of Internet connection terminals (that is, personal computers and the like) and cellular telephones, etc., minors such as grade-school children are included among the users of these terminals. There is a risk that, among users such as these, the very young (such as the grade-schoolers noted above) will give away information that should be kept confidential, such as actual names, addresses, by sending and receiving e-mail messages or by accessing internet sites via cellular telephones or the like. Moreover, crimes committed by minors through accessing sites that contravene public morals have become a serious social problem.
Thus, as described above, although the use of the Internet and of convenient information communications devices such as cellular telephones makes it possible to enjoy easy and convenient conversation, talking with a large number of unidentified parties creates many risks of leaking of confidential personal information, which chills the enjoyment of such easy conversation. Moreover, although limiting the exchange of information only to acquaintances eliminates the need for vigilance against the loss of confidential personal information, such a limitation cannot be said to afford maximum advantage of the opportunities offered by the Internet and cellular telephone e-mail messaging for exchanging information with an unlimited number of people.